EU budget talks: New taxes could shield national budgets, Costa says

European Council President António Costa has indicated that new, EU-wide taxes could be implemented to reduce member states' contributions to the bloc's budget, a significant goal for Germany. This proposal comes as negotiations for the EU's 2028-2034 budget approach an informal deadline.

Costa emphasized the need for "new own resources" to protect national budgets, stating, "We cannot ask more from the member states." He argued that these EU-wide taxes, referred to as own resources, are essential for funding common European policy areas like defense and competitiveness, which individual governments cannot address alone.

His remarks were made during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, shortly after the far-right Alternative for Germany's electoral success in Saxony-Anhalt. This political development could potentially influence Merz's negotiating stance on the budget. Merz reiterated Germany's call to cut "several hundreds of billions" from the Commission’s nearly €2 trillion budget proposal, describing it as "prohibitive" for European taxpayers.

The European Commission's July proposal projected €66 billion per year from new own resources. However, after over a year of discussions, EU governments have only reached an agreement on levies targeting foreign polluters through the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and on uncollected electronic waste. These are expected to generate approximately €20 billion annually.